Marichka and Mark are co-founders and members the musical duo Balaklava Blues, creators of the multi-award winning guerrilla-folk-opera Counting Sheep and leaders of the mighty, Juno-nominated Lemon Bucket Orkestra – Canada’s notorious 12 piece balkan-party-punk-massive.
The two met in Ukraine during the 2014 revolution of dignity and ever since, they have dedicated their creative energy to telling the stories of their home country to the world. Their music, which fuses Ukrainian polyphony and other folk traditions with EDM, trap, dub step, and more, is a reclamation of the violence perpetrated on their home country, and aims to redesign and remix physical and psychological oppression.
Their 2015 play Counting Sheep – a story of love and revolution – garnered major critical acclaim winning several awards at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe, including a Fringe First award and Amnesty International’s Freedom of Speech award.